How A Blockbuster 80s Thriller Changed TV Forever With Phil Collins’ Drums
Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published
The Golden Age of television fame began when Tony Soprano first walked into Dr. Melfi, but the basis of that The Sopranos it was set ten years earlier. On September 16, 1984, Michael Mann introduced the world Miami Vice.
Much of the style and culture of the 80s can be traced back to the influence of the series, from cars to menswear, but its lasting legacy has been to show that, at its best, television can be better than movies. And thanks to Phil Collins.
Great Drums in Music History
Before Miami Vice first released, television was considered second only to movies. On the big screen, fans can see larger-than-life stories and characters, such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and The jawswhich were reserved for watching movies. Television was where stars who couldn’t make it in movies went. You can see the big difference between their budgets. Even the best-looking television series looked inferior to movies, until Michael Mann turned a TV pilot into a music video.
“My Brother’s Keeper,” pilot episode Miami Vice, set the pins for the remaining series to follow. Crockett (Don Johnson) is dealing with the loss of his partner when he is paired with Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) in a secret location to bring down the drug kingpin, Calderone (Miguel Pinero). It’s standard police procedures today, but in 1984, it was a new level of darkness and gloom beneath the shiny exterior of cool cars, flashing lights, and designer shades.
No sequence sums it up better than the last, when Corkett and Tubs get in their car to confront Calderone while Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” starts. A car shot up the road, the two detectives are silent as they each lose their thoughts, then Crockett gets out of the car to answer the phone. Throughout the episode, he is troubled by his relationship with his estranged wife, but he answers, and asks a simple question: “Was it true?”
As he hung up the phone, the drums started. He knows exactly which drums are which. And there, Miami Vice came, and television has never been the same. More than 40 years later, and the boys are still blasting “In the Air Tonight” while driving at night.
Film on a TV budget
I Miami Vice the pilot was a two-hour television event, so the production team pulled out all the stops to make it a hit. Licensing music was not common at the time, and “My Brother’s Keeper” not only used “In the Air Tonight,” but also included “Miss You” by The Rolling Stones, and “Somebody Watching Me” by Rockwell. Visual music was a key ingredient in turning parts of the episode into music videos.
Beyond the award-winning soundtrack and cinematography, Miami Vice it was a breath of fresh air because of its dark and sarcastic tone. Sonny Crockett was a cop on the edge, watching his life slowly crumble around him, while Ricardo Tubbs didn’t just want to avenge his brother’s death at Calderon’s hands, he was consumed by it. This was far from the sunny coast Hawaii 5-0, or cheese of Cagney and Lacey, Hart to Hartagain The A group.
Miami Vice it didn’t look, sound, or play (the villain wins) like any of its contemporaries. When “My Brother’s Keeper” ended, the level of success in television was raised to an almost unattainable level. Dark heroes existed, licensed music was expected, and good stories replaced fairy tale endings.
